We spent our time at the property on Saturday walking in the woods. Our plan was to walk more of the property line as we still haven’t seen the entire place. We did hike the better part of the boundary and discovered all sorts of excellent things! Except for the constant chatter of kids, the sounds of the woods were magnificent. Actually, the chatter wasn’t so bad either as the kids were having fun.
When I was a kid, hiking in the woods was not high on my list of fun. I played in the woods a lot but plain old hiking wasn’t good for me. I was so surprised that Isaac and Abigail walked the entire 2 miles in the woods with only a small handful of complaints. Incredible!
We did walk the better part of the lower edge of the place and saw all sorts of beautiful flowers and animal tracks of all sorts. There were too many deer tracks to even keep track of but the kids tried to identify every print they came across.
That's Abigail's finger...she's the brave one
We spooked a turkey and saw the biggest centipede the kids had ever seen. We found just a little bit of poison ivy and a lot of slippery moss. Squirrels barked and birds announced our path through the woods. All around us was noise but it felt like silence. It was marvelous walking in our woods and this weekend was the reason we bought the place! I am absolutely positive that my blood pressure is still lowered because of it!
We had just finished Easter lunupper (brunch sounds so nice…what do you call it between lunch and supper? Lunupper?). We rolled into the house and had a message. The caller reported a swarm of bees near a popular chain restaurant attached to the big mall in the city. The swarm was at the top of a cedar tree and was “the biggest swarm ever seen” by the manager of the restaurant. I was pretty skeptical about the size as most people have never seen a swarm of bees so big could mean anything. Still, I decided to roll down with Abigail and my father-in-law to find out.
As soon as we pulled in, a crowd gathered and watched us do our normal routine of surveying the swarm. It wasn’t the biggest swarm I had ever seen but the manager had picked out the fact that it was a big swarm. It was in the very top of a cedar tree. Cedar trees are sort of flimsy at the top. Unlike an oak or maple, the cedar doesn’t really have big branches against which one can lean a ladder. It has been my foolish tendency to just go for it when it comes to swarms. I just threw the ladder up against the green of the tree and climbed my way up. I always carry loppers (is that a local term or what they are called? Long handled tree pruners, anyhow) to cut branches. The funny thing is that when you cut a swarm out of a tree, you need to hold onto the branch with the bees on it. Of course, it also takes two hands to run the loppers. I learned the first time I did this that I can hold onto the swarm with one hand and brace one handle of the pruners against my neck. I use my other hand to close the loppers and cut the branch. Now let me tell you, doing that leaning into the greenery at the top of this flimsy tree with a swarm of bees was interesting!
marching into the hive...
So the crowd continued to watch as the three of us did our thing. We transferred the bees from the branch to the hive I brought along. I gave the branch a good shake and the bees mostly fell into the box, but some fell onto the sheet I had under the box (another lesson I learned…put down a sheet first. It looks more impressive and help me keep better track of the bees as they walk into the hive). In a few minutes, it was clear I had the queen as the bees on the sheet and from the tree ended up working their way right into the hive. We packaged up the hive and hauled it off in the van (much to the dismay/excitement of our audience). I really like the “performer” part of catching swarms. Hauling bees in the van is sort of the grand finale!
safe as can be!
Two things sort of struck me about this capture. First, people were amazed that I let Abigail be so close to the swarm. She was a great helper and loved every second. The funny thing is, she had on a full bee suit so was at lower risk than the people around us who were concerned for her safety. Silly people! On the way home, she asked me over and over, “Why were those people looking at us?” I explained that people were surprised at a kid working with bees, and even more so a girl kid working with bees. I told her they were probably seeing a swarm of bees for the first time ever, and so on. She talked about it all night long. I think she was sort of proud more than anything. I am still smiling about it…
fascinated!
The second striking thing was a man who walked up as we were doing our thing. It was clear he was drunk. He walked right up to us and began to talk to us far closer to the bees than I really liked but he was so curious about the whole deal. He ended up sitting right beside our area and asked all sorts of questions. He asked about the queen and I said she was bigger than the rest. He said, “Bees have three parts, right? The abdomen, thorax and head, right?” He must have sensed my surprise because, with a smile on his face, he added, “I may be homeless but I’m not stupid.” “No sir, you are not.” That brief conversation really turned my prejudice on its head. I shook his hand (which I think surprised him) and we parted ways. I think we both ended up with a pretty cool story to tell, though they are undoubtedly quite different.
Anyhow, I had a really great time catching this swarm. The audience was fun, having my family along was great, and the homeless man was sort of good to remind me to listen to people before deciding that I know their circumstances. Bees always teach me something…
Emily was in Florida all week for a training so I was on kid duty. Call me Mr Mom. Fortunately, I had some logistical help from family so getting everyone to practice on time was ok. We really had a great time and I even got all of the laundry and ironing done. Normally I am not allowed to touch either. My jobs are dishes, sweeping and toilets…stuff I can’t screw up. Anyhow, Emily wasn’t there to tell me I couldn’t do laundry so I did it out of spite.
The Ghostbusters shirt was pure coincidence!
Since Emily wasn’t there to do the right thing regarding watching tv with the kids, we decided to watch a ghost hunter show. They were visiting the Trans-Allegheny Insane Asylum in Weston, WV. The Asylum is a huge old building where the mentally impared (in all sorts of forms) were sent from pre-Civil War days until the early 1990s. Emily and I were in an abnormal psychology class together in college and visited the place when there were still patients in residence. It was much better managed and humane when we were there as compared to when it was “in full bloom” but it was still a horrendous and scary place when we were there.
So, these goof-balls went in and started creeping around listening for spooks and specters of the dead within. They took pictures of all sorts of stuff and discovered “ghosts” everywhere. I can’t figure out if those folks actually believed in ghosts or if they were just getting rich making the show. In either case, the kids and I had a blast debunking their ghosts and spirits. In so doing, we discovered that our house was full of ghosts too!
Take note of the spirits as indicated by the arrows. We had discussion with the ghosts and we agreed that we would not exorcise them if they would keep termites away. We’ll see whether they live up to their end of the bargain…
It has been pretty nice the last few days, and now, with the weekend approaching, it turns to junk. Last night, just as I was driving home, it decided to come a gully washer (for you Yankees, that means it rained like crazy). As I walked to the car, it poured and I got wet clear inside my skin. About half way home, the rain turned to hail and all hail broke loose. It quickly turned to hail-so-loud-I-coudn’t-hear-myself-yell-in-the-car hail. I mean it put down hail and meant it.
A friend suggested the hail had challenged her car to a MMA fight and the winner was not clear. That pretty well sums it up. I am sure that if we see the sun again, I will have dents all over my car. Poor Steve…
Of course, hail is really ice and it became abundantly clear that I needed to be careful on the hail. I slid at one stop sign which was an attention grabber. Anyhow, I slowed down and got home just in time for it all to stop as fast as it started.
There were tons of blooms out and the bees had been busy on them. It remains to be seen how the hail might affect the build-up of bees. This is a critical time for them to be making more bees and collecting pollen and nectar.
I love spring for all of the new life that comes and the rain that sparks the world to green up again. I might be able to do with out the hail though…just spring please!
Holy cow is it ever windy today! As I write this, it is still dark out which means it is normally quiet. Today though, the wind is howling through our doors and making an incredible racket. It almost sounds like a buzz-saw running outside.
I understand that we are to have gusts as high as 40 mph today and our hilltop gets every bit of that. We are the next mountaintop over from the airport where they measure those sorts of things. It’s funny but our trees show the wear from the years of being on this windy hilltop too.
I wish it was that warm outside!
I tried to take Ginny out but she would have nothing to do with that! I guess she’ll cross her legs all day! Anyhow, when I step out into wind like that, I always think of that commercial that played when I was a kid…”When I take a bite out of a York Peppermint Patty…” Today is going to be a York Peppermint Patty sort of day!
We are soon to be country folk. We’ll retain our city-slicker-ness during the week as we both work in the city. But come the weekend, we are putting on our boots and headed to the woods! Being city-slickers, we didn’t have proper boots. How can we be country folk without boots?
Oh no, that cannot abide! I got new boots last week so we would not be wet-footed-greenhorns! I was a bit torn about what style of boot I needed. I have steel-toed rubber boots and I have cowboy-esqe boots. I have boots with fluffy insides and I have boots with sparkles. Well, no I don’t. Anyhow, I figure that running shoes would not work in the woods and I plan to be in the woods and in the fields and generally outside on this property!
Emily actually got her boots at the beginning of winter. I think she looks hot in her boots. They are water-proof and snake-proof and termite-proof. The are so-many-things-proof that I decided to get an identical pair…only mine were half off! Anyhow, our boots are identical…even in size!
We are ready now. I got my boots and I got my canvas coat and I got an itchin’ to get outside and enjoy…being outside! My boots have much work to do in the coming few months! I have high hopes for these boots. I am offering up a challenge to my boots. They gotta be tough. They gotta be rough. They gotta be awesome! Don’t make me break out my sparkley boots!
That’s 5:15 in the morning. Or maybe it was even a tad bit earlier. I am not sure. You see, I was ASLEEP! Oh, I complain and all but I am thankful that the school system uses an automated system to call everyone when school is cancelled. We live in the armpit where WV, KY and OH all join so if we had to watch the scrolling thing on tv, we end up waiting a long time for them to roll back around to WV schools. Did you like how I used armpit there? I am not sure how else to describe it. Let’s just say that border area is a really nice smelling, freshly cleaned (and maybe even shaved) armpit. Maybe like Sandra Bullock’s armpit or something. Anyhow, it’s a weird boundary so everyone in all three states watches the same tv stations waiting to see if their school is cancelled.
Ok, back to the call…the call came in at 5:15ish. Emily normally gets up at 5:30 so she wasn’t too messed up by the call. I tend to get up an hour later. It works well for us. Today, however, when she has the chance to go back to bed, she kept bugging me to haul my butt out of bed early and get out the door so she could go back to sleep. Snow days for me mean that I get up earlier than normal.
Of course, Abigail was up (because the child never sleeps in) so it was sweet when I was getting ready to walk out the door. She grabbed onto me and said, “do you have to go to work? Don’t you get a snow day?” She really didn’t want to let me go. That’s pretty sweet and almost worth the pain of being run out of the house early by my wife.
We’re having a pretty good snow right now but I suspect we are nothing compared to NYC and Boston. Once again, I am glad I live in West-by-God-Virginia!
So…ahem…the blackberries are in full glory right now and we found a newish place to pick and this year’s berries are as big as I have ever seen (including those pretend ones you can get at the grocery store). We have picked several “messes” of berries and I have enjoyed 2 blackberry pies that my delightful wife has prepared. She made some good ones 2 years ago, but this year, the berries are purple and huge and AWESOME!
Of course, we live in West-by-God-Virginia where mountain goat commandos go to train. Our new location is significantly more hilly than previous years so picking in our new secret spot has been interesting and a little prickly. I have to wear soccer cleats so I don’t slide down the hill through the briers. I really wish I was more successful at that. Anyhow, because of the danger (yes, the hills are steep enough that it is dangerous), the kids are not picking this year. They mostly run around and look for new spots for me to scale. I think they have grown up a good bunch though. They still fight like mountain goat commandos and mountain lions, but not while we are working on berries…and that’s worth a big hee-haw from me!
so much for focus...
Aside from the hills being interesting, our new spot is farther into the woods and we have been assaulted by a few ticks this year. Ticks suck. I think I hate ticks and roaches more than about anything…not sure why because bugs in general don’t offend me, but I am personally offended when I see either of my nemeses. Alas, I shall push on in pursuit of the berry. The blackberry pie calls to me…I must heed its call!
I have been pretty out of touch lately…but I have an excuse, honestly! We went to the beach at Topsail Island, NC! We typically go to a beach somewhere in NC but this was our first year at Topsail (pronounced Top-sul). Anyhow, I’ll get to the pics of me in a bikini later but first, let me tell you about the trip there. From Charleston, we have to travel south on the WV turnpike which is a toll-road. Typically we pay our 6 bucks each way and forget about it, but this year, we discovered something new…E-Z Pass! I always figured those lanes that nobody used were for decoration only…or maybe WV got extra booths because they were on sale. My sister-in-law educated us about the E-Z Pass system which is what those always-empty lanes are really for!
Emily went on down to the West Virginia Parkways Authority and bought our transponder. Basically we just had to load a $20 credit on our device (which required a $5 refundable deposit). The device hangs on the windshield behind the mirror and is out of sight. Now get this, it took Emily mere minutes to fill out the paperwork (at a government agency) and walk out of the building with our very own you-can-use-the-empty-lane-on-the-toll-roads transponder. Instead of the typical $2 per stop, with the E-Z Pass system, the toll is only $1.30…so on our trip, we saved$4.20 which almost covered my recommended daily allowance of Mountain Dew for the trip down.
Do you ever feel that special happy feeling down in your belly when you get to do something cool that puts you in front of other cars, saves you some money and speeds you on to the beach faster than normal? Yeah, me too. We took pictures of cars around us and the empty lanes each time we came upon a toll booth…I was like a kid in a toll booth shop!
Last Sunday we attended Symphony Sunday, a day of showcasing local orchestras, ensembles, etc culminating in a performance by the WV Symphony. The University of Charleston opens its beautiful lawn to the crowd of several thousand people to enjoy the performances.
Boats always anchor near the lawn to hear the musicbut they have to dodge the gigantic coal barges that pass by...One of the views from our seats...the WV Capitol
It rained in the morning so we didn’t even think of attending many of the events, but by the early evening, all was clear so we packed up our lawn chairs and headed to Kanawha City (the part of the city where the University is located). We tend to sit towards the back of the group as our kids need room to fully appreciate the event. Many people with kids hang out there and it usually works out pretty well.
The Symphony chose a “Wizard of Oz” theme for their performances and played many numbers that were in or referenced the movie. It was pretty cool aside from the fact that there were quiet parts of several songs which were inaudible from the back. As my father-in-law says in reference to the violins, “they need to do more sawing and less plucking.” If they added one more row of speakers, I bet we could hear the plucking too!
The WV Symphony...we were waaay backThe Capitol was beautiful at night though I think they need to check on it...it seems to be leaning a bit
Anyhow, most of the performance was cool except for the pockets of white trash who decided to break out their boxes of wine and drink out of plastic dixie cups. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with box wine, but many of the folks put on airs of culture and high living. As you might guess, they were as tacky and ridiculous as can be. In my mind, I am thinking, “this ain’t high living…you fools are ignoring the music, drinking wine from a box and sitting on the wet grass in heels. By the way, nice big wet spot on your butt…bring a chair next year.” Folks came decked out in their Sunday best and did their very best to go on and on about their lives and generally make it hard to hear the music and even harder to ignore their inanity.
Ok, sorry…that all sounds like I didn’t have fun…I definitely did have fun. We played some and we ate good ice cream and had a great time all together. The WV Symphony is awesome and a great thing for the state. The show always finishes with fireworks and that show was the highlight for most people there (based on the cheers). It was a pretty cool show…a river barge floats into place on the river adjacent to the University’s lawn and we all get to see the show up close…
